How to use Twitter for your Blog and to Increase Engagement

Using Twitter is something that I have been doing since 2008 but I have only been using it for my blog since November 2017. Since then, I have grown my followers and now (6th July 2018) I have around 9,500. Buying followers is something that I would never do and I don’t follow to unfollow. I wanted to share some tips with you that have helped me to increase my followers & engagement.

Using Twitter

My Profile

My Twitter username is @bexcapades because I wanted it to have the same name as my blog. It is the start of branding. You should try and have the same username across all of your social media accounts if you can.

My biography lists things I identify with and want people to know. This can help to be discovered when people are searching. My biography says ‘Travel & Mental Health Blogger/Freelance Writer || 23 || INFP || Hufflepuff || Brit Abroad || 23/196 || PR Friendly ||’. If people search Mental Health then I will show up in the search or if they search Hufflepuff. This can help to gain followers who are like-minded.

My Profile Picture is a picture of me in front of the pink & purple Bali sunse as my favourite colour is purple and my general blog theme is purple. My header photo is my blog header, again pink & purple with my blog name & tagline on. I think continuity is important as people are more likely to remember you.

Choosing Who To Follow

I don’t follow everyone back but I do follow most people back. Though it’s nice to say you’ll follow everyone back, you’ll only end up with a feed that you’re not interested in & you’ll miss out on making genuine friendships & connections. Personally, I follow back most bloggers, travellers, those who advocate for mental health & others who I think I’ll enjoy reading. I mostly judge this on their bio (which is why I include so much in mine) but if I’m not sure I’ll click on their profile.

Following people in your blogging niche or with similar interests can be mutually beneficial. You like reading things that they post & they are more likely to like your tweets/click on your links.

Should I use follow trains?

Personally I don’t unless there’s not a requirement to follow everyone. This may sound odd but your feed has to be relevant for you otherwise you won’t enjoy twitter. Some follow threads say ‘follow those who’s feed you’ll be interested in’. This is better as though you won’t get as many followers, you’ll get more engaged followers. Also, constantly RTing follow trains will probably get you more unfollowers in the long run, those who are following to unfollow and your genuine followers who are fed up of the constant chains.

Using Twitter as a Blogger

How often do you post links to your blog?

I have a first week system that I use for each new blog post.

Day 1 – share the link 7 times

2 – share the link 5 times

3 – share the link 4 times

4 – share the link 3 times

5 – share the link 3 times

6 – share the link 2 times

7 – share the link 2 times

This might seem like a lot but twitter is a fast moving chronological feed meaning if you only promote it once per days it isn’t likely to reach many of your followers. In addition to sharing new posts, I also share each blog post once per month. This ensures that I get more views as I am not only promoting new content.

Don’t worry about your followers getting bored of you promoting old posts, chances are they didn’t see it last month & your new followers haven’t seen it yet!

How to Get People to Read your Posts

This will be different for everyone but I’ll share some of the tips that have helped me. Using pictures make your tweets more noticeable, sometimes this transfers into them clicking the link, other times it’ll just get a like or RT. Don’t be disheartened though as this can show up in other people’s feed who don’t follow you.

Using blog RT accounts and hashtags to share my posts with a wider audience is also useful. I run a hashtag called #soulblogsRT which RTs all blog promotion tweets that include it. Another account I love and recommend is Cbeechat.

When should you share your posts? Is there a certain time of day that’s best?

As mentioned above I post throughout the day. This ensures that people across different time zones have a chance at seeing your tweets. I like to be more active during UK busy times such as 7-8am and 7-9pm. I find that I get more clicks if I promote & chat during this time.

You can also share your posts when people ask specific questions. This could be a ‘how to’ question or recommendation question. This doesn’t only get you 1 view, most of the time others who also want to know the answer too & will give your link a click too. You don’t need to spam but if it’s relevant then you’re doing both of you a favour.

Q&A

How to get lots of real followers

Patience. This can take time especially your first 1,000. Follow other accounts that are related to your niche and you’re more likely to get a follow in return. Don’t expect everyone to follow back just as you shouldn’t follow everyone back. Choose relevant accounts to follow back.

I also view tweets by other blogger that have replies, likes & retweets and follow some of those accounts. This is so that there is a chance that they might engage with me. I’ve found so many accounts that I love by doing this and I believe that it’s increased my engagement too.

Remember that other people do this, so if you’re not liking, RTing or replying for other bloggers, new followers may never find you. Engaging with others is a great way to make friends and find like-minded, supportive people.

How to target specific posts to specific audiences in a way that doesn’t seem like it’s bombardment

Group chat can be a good idea. You can set up group DMs where you all promise to show support, like/RT certain tweets and comment on blog posts. This isn’t public but a close-knit group of 10 can sometimes be more effective than having 1,000 followers.

How to get people to engage

Create intrigue. People are more likely to click if they want to read more. By creating an intriguing tweet you boost your blog views. If you’re looking for twitter engagement, write relatable tweets, share your struggles and successes & ask questions. The beauty of twitter is that you will be seen by others’ followers if they reply to your question or they can recommend people who could have answers. You don’t have to struggle on your own anymore!

14 thoughts on “How to use Twitter for your Blog and to Increase Engagement”

I enjoyed reading this post and was taking notes down as I was reading it. I am a newbie blogger with my very first website and I’m just discovering the amazing communities of bloggers that are on Twitter! As I’m not a spring chicken anymore I had so many questions in my mind about how best to engage within Twitter not only for my own sanity but also to help grow my blog. Some of your tips that I’d like to try are the frequency of blog post shoutouts, how best to tweet them and fine tuning my profiles. I really like the format of your article too, everything is prim enough though far from boring and your writing is so relatable. Thanks again and I’m so glad I came by!http://www.sassy.mom

I’m glad you found it helpful! I hope that using some of the techniques will speed up your growth & confidence! Everything is trial & error, you’ll find certain times of day are more active for you that may be different to mine, I just wanted to give people a taste of what has worked for me! 🙂

I read somewhere that the average tweet lives for 18 minutes but I couldn’t find a reliable source so I didn’t include it, gotta promote like there’s no tomorrow, chances are it won’t spam people especially if you alternate the posts & wording 🙂 xx

Wow thanks for this post, it’s extremely interesting!
I initially used follow trains to get things going, but I quickly realised that I didn’t really want to engage with people with whom I had nothing in common. I now much prefer to choose who I follow (bloggers of any kind of niche) and really engage with them.

This is the piece of info that surprised me the most:
How often do you post links to your blog?
I have a first week system that I use for each new blog post.

Day 1 – share the link 7 times
2 – share the link 5 times
3 – share the link 4 times
4 – share the link 3 times
5 – share the link 3 times
6 – share the link 2 times
7 – share the link 2 times

I don’t feel confident enough to share links more than twice a day. But you’re right: Twitter is so fast moving, I can’t reach nearly enough people if I post only twice.

I felt a bit strange posting so often too but then I tried it and saw a definite increase in link clicks and I didn’t get mass unfollowers. You could always try it with 1 new post and see how it goes or even just post a couple of extra times per day and see if that makes a difference at first. It doesn’t matter how many followers you have as to how often you post but if your followers follow lots of people, your tweets can sometimes get lost in the masses! 🙂

Wow, I had no idea I should/could tweet blog posts that often. Thanks for the advice! I just changed my header based on your article also. One thing that is unfortunate for me is that the twitter name I wanted is taken, yet it’s a suspended account. So frustrating. So I had to go with @ sibply (instead of @sibple)

Great post, I appreciate your thoughts. Hadn’t considered reposting blog links so often, may try to step that up a bit. I agree with you about not following back everyone… while well meaning, you end up with a cluttered feed that has less meaning for you!

This post was so useful thank you! Twitter has definitely helped me to boost my blog but I sometimes feel I am coming to a standstill and not getting response to my interactions – my blog currently isn’t benefitting at all, I’ll 100% be trying some of the things you’ve mentioned xx